Difference Between Clip and Magazine

Clip and Magazine are terms related to ammunition. To gun aficionados, the difference between a clip and a magazine is as apparent as the difference between black and white, however for those who doesn’t know much about guns, the dissimilarity might not be as conspicuous.

Clip

The clip is an apparatus that is utilized to store in ammunition together as a whole unit, and then it is inserted in the magazine of a firearm. It is basically what holds the bullets together. The main function of the clip is to hold the rounds, but it will not feed the bullets to the firearm, since there is no spring that will propel them towards the barrel.

Magazine

Magazine works both as a storing instrument as well as a feeding device. Its component includes a spring in which it can launch the ammunition into the firearm. It can be either an internal part of the firearm or it can also be detachable. It usually has a box like structure that holds the bullets together that create the pressure to the bullets, though this device comes in many names such as casket, rotary, drum and pan among others.

Difference between Clip and Magazine

They are very much different from each other, in fact sometimes a clip is considered to be a magazine. A general rule of thumb if it has a spring on it, then that is a magazine. A clip can be rendered useless if it doesn’t have any spring on it, since it doesn’t have any shooting capacity without any spring on it. A clip generally needs another structure that will push the ammunitions out from the chamber. Magazines already possess both capacities, which are the reason why it widely used these days since a separate spring is no longer needed.

It pays to know the difference between the two, not just to learn something new but also to provide the proper response when you find yourself in a conversation with someone about guns and ammunitions. After all, one can never know when an extra knowledge might come in handy.

In brief:

• The clip is an apparatus that is utilized to store in ammunition together as a whole unit, and then it is inserted in the magazine of a firearm.

• Magazine works both as a storing instrument as well as a feeding device. Its component includes a spring in which it can launch the ammunition into the firearm.

I love to nit-pik. A cartridge is what goes into the magazine or clip, or in the cylinder of a revolver. The bullet is located in front of the catrridge and the gun powder to the rear. Powder ignites, sends bullet flying, ejecting the cartridge or saving it in the revolver chamber.